Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Four months ago, the Misuse of Drugs (Prescription and Control of Supply of Cannabis for Medical Use) Regulations 2019 came into effect. For the first time, this gave Irish-based doctors the opportunity to prescribe medical cannabis products. Since then, nobody has been prescribed any products whatsoever. I received a text message from a woman in recent days. In it she said:

Hi Gino, just to say thank you so much for campaigning for medical cannabis as I am going through chemotherapy at the moment and will have to buy cannabis on the black market. It is the only thing that stops the sickness and horrible pain that goes through my bones. This is so, so, so wrong.

What is wrong about this is that the cannabis-based products that could be helping this woman and many others are actually imported into the State but nobody can access them. When will the medical cannabis access programme commence which will allow people get proper access and stop having to go to the black market or even worse have to go abroad for medical cannabis products?

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